Vol. 11, Special Issue 2 (2022)

Author(s):
Dhanni Devi, SB Gupta, BK Mishra, MK Sheshma and Uma

Abstract:
Phosphorus is an essential nutrient element required for plant growth and development. Low phosphorus availability in soil is one of the major constrains for crop production. Phosphate solubilizing fungi enhance available phosphorous released from soils and contribute to fulfill the plants phosphorous requirement. This investigation aimed to isolate and identify potential phosphate solubilizing fungi from arid and semi-arid soils for environment friendly biofertilizer development. Six fungal isolates were isolated and identified as Aspergillus spp. and Penicillium spp. from arid and semi-arid soil based on phosphate solubilization index, morphological studies. Subsequently, fungal isolates having excellent phosphate solubilization efficiency were selected by their potential in broth containing insoluble Ca₃(PO₄). Interestingly, isolate DCU-201 (Penicillium spp.) have marked phosphate solubilization ability followed by DCU-203 (Aspergillus spp.). The maximum, solubilization index (2.6) and solubilized P (383 µg mL^-1) were associated with DCU-201 (Penicillium spp.). In addition, there was inverse proportion between the pH and phosphate solubilizing capacities. These excellent properties of isolates suggested that they have a great potential for agricultural utilization as environmentally sound biofertilizer. In this study, phosphate solubilization by filamentous fungi is reported for the first-time in and semi-arid region of India.